Question for the board

[Flir-D-Lee]

We have killed 20-25 pigs this year on our property. All have been boars. How in the heck can we see all these
pigs and not have any sows? We have a dozen game cameras out and not one picture of a sow. Really seems odd
to me. Any idea what could be going on in the area ? All replies and/or theories welcome.

 

[FrankT]

Have no idea, usually it is opposite that for us or certainly more Sows than boars.

 

[rgilbert]

I had the same thing at my place. I'm on the edge of a river and I think these are cruisers looking for sows. Now I have sounders.

 

[Flir-D-Lee]

Our place is on the river as well. 2.6 miles of frontage with a highway running on the other border. I have been told by others that the hogs travel the
river banks but don't know how that would create the all male population. We killed 3 pigs this past weekend. One real big one and 2 that were 125 and 150 lb.
All boars.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

It would have a lot to do with heavy ground cover for shade I believe. A sow, especially with piglets is using so much of her stored water to create milk that they need serious shade. I have trapped sows with piglets and they will die in the sun in just a matter of hours compared to a boar that can last a lot longer in the open. My theory is it's all about ground cover for bedding.

 

[Flir-D-Lee]

OK. I can see that. We don't have any open area to speak of though. The only open places we have are food plots and roads.
the plots range from 1- 2.5 acres. We have timber all the way to the river banks with lots of low,wet areas.

 

[theblakester]

Not to hijack this thread but do y'all know if a boar will stick around with a sow throughout her pregnancy or just while she's in heat?

My dad's place is a few miles from the nueces river and 95 percent of the time he only gets boars coming to his feeders. Usually alone. Sometimes 2 will share the feeder. Only after a lot of rain, which is rare out there, will he see a sounder come through, or a momma and her piglets....
Now as soon as I say that, he checked the cameras last week he's been having a boar and a sow together every night.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I have an opinion on that too. lol
Corn is not a great source of food for hogs, a treat and a opportunity for sure but not a staple of a hogs diet by any means. They are much more efficient at finding the right foods at the right time of year that they need at that time. I have had hogs here I have raised and let them out in the morning with a pile of corn out and they will walk past it every time for grasses, weed tops etc...and come back and get some later when they feel like it. But it isn't ever the "go to" food for them. Even dog food, I found if it is low in fat content they will ignore it, high fat content and they chow down.( I used it for bait and food on occasion). I mix oats with my corn around here, keeps them around for an hour instead of 10 minutes.

 

[FrankT]

I put a trough by my feeders that sling corn and put bread or horse sweet feed in them, they always hit that before corn.

 

[Ranger]

I also trap and shoot a small number of hogs each year, maybe 20-40. We are on the edge of the invasion in our part of Texas as neighbors kill hundreds by helicopter. We work very hard to eliminate hogs and the trespassers are almost exclusively boars. If we lay off the traps and hunts for a couple months then the sows and sounders start to show up. The males of many species tend to wander farther in search of females. We see the same behavior in raccoons and the big cats. I have gone for months without taking a sow when we stay on them hard.

 

[FrankT]

Welcome Ranger

 

[ZenArchery]

One field I used to hunt we called the battle grounds. Could almost guarantee 90% of the hogs we shot were boar's.

 

[Ranger]

Welcome Ranger

Thank you!